Does SAE eat fish poop?

**ming1** · 9th Dec 2013, 13:59

Hi, im interested in getting afew SAE for my ranchu tank.. I like to know whether the SAE will eat the fish poop or only algae? Cos my tank is a plain tank with no plants.

**ming1** · 9th Dec 2013, 14:12

sorry mod, i post on wrong sub-forum.. can help me move the thread?

**ming1** · 9th Dec 2013, 20:07

Anybody can enlighten me? Cos i read some feedback on google is that they will break down the poop but some said they only will take in algae?

**Kiang** · 9th Dec 2013, 21:05

SAE do not eat poop. I do not think there are poop eating fish unless the poop got traces of undigested food. Then maybe they will eat the poop at times.

Lastly, I think the water temp of goldfish and SAE are quite different. Forgotten about details

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**ming1** · 9th Dec 2013, 21:20

thanks for enlightening me.. i have a clear plain tank with 3 ranchu in it so im thinking of adding afew SAE to help clear the unfinished food and maybe breakdown the poop..

**Kiang** · 9th Dec 2013, 22:02

Mutual learning.

I am new to this hobby too.

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**Kiang** · 9th Dec 2013, 22:03

Dun overfeed goldfish. A lot of problems is the long run.

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**Urban Aquaria** · 9th Dec 2013, 22:29

The last time i heard that a fish can eat poop was back in the 70s when i was a kid... i always remember the LFS uncle recommending pleco to eat poop, haha.

Poor plecos end up getting dumped into dirty tanks and expected to consume waste, turns out they create even more poop themselves!

Yeah, no known aquarium fishes eat poop... even the scat fishes which supposedly live in ponds near sewer outlets are actually eating the undigested food in the poop, not the poop itself.

You could get shrimps or snails to help eat leftover food and when they break up large poop pieces into smaller bits to find undigested food, it helps to make the waste lighter to circulate into the filter.

The majority of poop clearing work will still have to be done manually though, especially for goldfishes.

**felix_fx2** · 9th Dec 2013, 23:16

mind the SMS lingo usage guys.

I do want to read the forum, but this thread so many posts have SMS lingo.

p.s: posting from mobile no excuse.

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**Kiang** · 9th Dec 2013, 23:35

Apologies. Will take note in the future

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**wongce** · 10th Dec 2013, 20:08

Do not overfeed your goldfish as mentioned by others. Have sufficient filtration or manual suck up the poos every now and then. Goldfish are poomasters by the way.

Shrimps will be quick snack for your goldfish...lol

I was cheated by old timer lfs uncle also ...bought pleco then regretted.. end up the pleco eat and poo more than goldfish...some pleco types are more aggressive and will suck the slime on goldfish's body..might even hurt the goldfish too.

**ming1** · 11th Dec 2013, 18:21

Thanks for enlightening me.. But if i want to get 1 pcs of SAE and keep it in a clear empty tank with 3 ranchu isit ok? I read is that SAE need some hole to hide or something?

**Urban Aquaria** · 11th Dec 2013, 19:18

It'll be good to put some hiding places for the SAE to reduce stress, especially if you buy the small juvenile ones, as they might get intimidated by the larger ranchus.

If its a new tank then you probably have to feed the SAE in the meantime (before algae grows for it to graze on), though there will probably be alot of leftover food from feeding the goldfishes scattered around the tank anyways.

**kapitan** · 12th Dec 2013, 09:07

fish that eat poop will also poop.......

**jamonbutter** · 22nd Dec 2013, 23:40

I think the issue is reducing bioload, hence it's more about reduce feeding amount but freq feed. Water change and a good filter would all adds up to a healthy tank